Incarnadine
by Meibou
Summary: He painted her. Her soul now is the deep vermillion color of blood. The both of them. And the color binds them. Itachi x Hinata.


Disclaimer: Don't own.

Summary: He painted her. Her soul now is the deep vermillion color of blood. The both of them. And the color binds them.

Pairing: Itachi x Hinata

Warnings: None too many, morbidity perhaps.

**Incarnadine**

"_Little one, do you like the color red?"_

They were Hyuuga. They had subtler aura of confidence that flared brightly under their skins, but bold at the same time with those opaque white eyes that stood out so well. Like ice reflecting a sunbeam.

"Uchiha-san. Welcome." A tall man stood at the head of the party. Long, dark hair matched the traditional style of cloths of darker shades the group wore. Only one was brightly dressed, a child. She clung to the leader, reluctantly edging away when he reprimanded her in a cold tone. It took her several moments more to glance up shyly, leaving the ground behind.

She was far more interesting than the rest of them.

"A beautiful daughter you have, Hyuuga-san." He stood besides his father, his brother and mother flanking him, and six more stood behind them. His father bowed slightly, his back rigid as ever and almost as unyielding.

"And your two sons are indeed strong, Uchiha-san." Hiashi bowed slightly as well, not giving another inch less or more in degree than his father. "My wife is attending to our second child. She will join us later." The last bit of news would bring a brighter smile to his mother's face; Sasuke was getting too young to baby. "Come."

His father stepped forward, walking with the Hyuuga leader. The group eventually stopped in front of two wide shouji doors, with the bold kanji for 'strength' and 'longevity' written on either door.

"Itachi, sit this out."

No movement was his act of acquiescence.

"Hinata, entertain them. Take them to the garden."

"H-Hai Chichiue."

She obeyed, not looking back to question them with her glances. It was a Zen garden, with a smooth grey fountain spouting water in the middle of a lily pad pond. She sat on one of the benches, letting them take their pick of the other stone seats.

"Your name."

"O-oh! Hinata." Her whisper was almost silent, but the thrice imposing silence of their presences outdid it. She picked at one of a low bunch of flowers with purple flowers. Tossing it in the pond after fiddling with it, the white and orange catfish inspected it before sinking back into the green shadows of the pond.

"Aconite?"

"O-oh, h-hai! How-"

"It's poisonous."

"Only the r-roots though…"

"Ah. It's very pretty. Like you."

"_I hate it. It means death."_

"Give me your hand."

Hinata obeyed her father, palm face up. Hiashi slid a sharp blade over her finger, a sharp line of crimson welling up afterwards. All pretended not to notice a small whimper of pain.

"Place your thumb here." She followed his directions, pressing a bloody print at the very bottom of the paper. Her sign was insignificant, compared to the two larger signatures of the patriarchs of the two clans.

Some murmuring of voices and then the rustle of cloth came from behind her. A form knelt besides hers, also marking the bottom of the paper with red. She blinked before daring to look. Itachi was the one beside her.

Hinata didn't say anything. She only glanced at her thumb. She moved it, and it stung as she flexed it. The cut was still bleeding, trailing down her hand. Catching the disapproving glare from her father at her movement, she bent her wrist to redirect the trickle onto her forearm.

Fugaku stood next to Hiashi with a grunt, the other members of the room following out of respect. He bowed stiffly. "Thank you for inviting us into your house, Hyuuga-san. We will take our leave."

"Very well then. We will accompany you to the gate."

Hinata scrambled up off her knees, about to follow her father out the door, and see off these cold, shadowed people. She hadn't spoken to any much, but her father seemed pleased; they couldn't be all that bad.

"Hinata, come here."

She halted at her mother's call. She hesitated a little, but she approached the form standing in the center of the room. "What's wrong Hahaue?"

Her mother kneeled down, gathering her up in her arms. "My little Hinata… I love you so much, you know?" She felt lips press against her crown, thrice, and the hold on her tightened.

"Why are you so sad Hahaue?" She returned the hug, wrapping her arms as far as they could go, pressing against the other's black kimono. She vaguely remembered the blood on her hand and wrist, but she didn't really care if she got her mother's clothes dirty; she didn't look good in black.

"Don't worry Hinata. Don't ask questions about what happened today." She felt something wet drop upon her head, and again. "I wish your Chichiue knew how unhappy he was making you."

"I'll be happy for both of us instead, Hahaue, don't worry."

A small laugh. "I wish it were so, Hinata." She was released, and stared into her mother's silver-white eyes. "Go get some incense. We'll visit the shrine and pray to Tsukiyomi to watch over you while you sleep and Amaterasu while you wake."

"_And what do you think of black?"_

Itachi had chanced upon her when he was returning from the banks of the River Nakano; he had left Shisui where he lay in the mud, and when high tide came he'd be found tomorrow.

She was huddling under some brush, making small whimpering sounds. And when he pushed aside the branches concealing her, she flung herself at him, eyes closed tightly and palms out in a slow and messy Jyuuken thrust.

He had merely redirected the power by pushing her arm to the side. She stumbled forward, into him. He frowned.

This was his future wife?

"S-sumimasen Uchiha-san! I-I didn't mean to a-attack you, I was j-just…"

"Surprised?" Itachi finished lazily, not batting an eyelash at her stutter.

She shook her head. "S-Scared…"

His eyes narrowed then. She was admitting her fear? That was no good. But she never really was meant to be a shinobi. So it was a suiting change for him, in some ways.

"Uchiha-san, what about y-your friend…?"

She saw. She knew. She could tell.

He couldn't kill her though. The suicide note was deliberately not too similar to Shisui's train of thoughts, meant to be able to keep them guessing. But a witness… he'd be caught earlier on in the game than he wished.

Itachi bit his thumb, drawing blood like one normally would for a summoning technique. "Hinata-san… do you remember when you signed the contract with me when we first saw each other?"

"H-Hai…"

He lifted his hand, and with a swift swipe, he marked her forehead with his blood. "Promise me. You won't say anything about today. And I will return you to your room in fifteen minutes." At her flush, he knew that he had been right. She had probably wandered away and forgotten both the time and the way back; the Hyuuga were strict.

She copied his movement, biting down on her thumb, but barely enough to have a few drops well up. She held her hands up to his face.

In her hesitation, he impatiently pressed his lips against the tiny digit. She blushed again, embarrassed. He only scooped her up in his arms, pumping chakra into his legs to increase his speed. She was trembling slightly as she clung to him, the entirety of the journey to her windowsill.

_I don't mind it. It's nothing. You can't really be afraid of nothing._

Hinata had run away again. This time, she stayed close to a route she knew- the main path, where she had passed the Uchiha compound an hour ago. She was now huddling under a tree, drawing her knees close to her chest, hiding again.

She had been shadowing her father closely; she was near enough to step on his heels, which did so happen. His temper had flared out of its icy prison, and he had hit her down, with one of many glares on his face. Hitting her again, he had snarled and whirled away, leaving her whimpering on the wooden floor. And she had done only what she knew well- ran.

A silhouette caught her opaque eyes.

"Ah!" She always did meet him at times of the utmost inconvenience. She knew by the way he turned, already knowing who was speaking, his eyes saying clearly that she held him back. "I-Ita-"

He had disappeared, reappearing next to her, hand covering her mouth. His name on her lips died out and her gasp was muffled.

"Quiet."

She felt scared again.

"I'm leaving."

"W-What? Why?"

"Do you remember when you signed the contract with me, when we first saw each other?"

She gave a nod. Apparently satisfied, he bit his thumb again as she watched; this was like their unofficial contract the day she got lost near the River Nakano. And again, he marked her forehead with a line, but then putting two thumbprints on the sides of her face.

She blinked, lifting her hand to her face with intention to touch the substance but he caught her hand.

"Promise me. You will not speak of me as a known acquaintance. You will get stronger. And I will take you home."

"I-I don't want to go h-home, Itachi-san." She bit down on her thumb as well, and pushed her hand forward. She splayed her fingers out and extended her thumb. "Y-you have to promise me that you'll come back to K-Konoha someday."

"I will come back to you. Nothing else." His muscles relaxed a little, guiding her hand and bending like a young willow branch, so that she stamped her fingerprint against his hitai-ite.

"This is the only thing that ties me to this place, where you are." He kissed her bloody thumb. Immediately afterwards, he straightened, his shadow blocking Hinata's sight of the moon, but not for long. He disappeared in a whirling wind of leaves.

A pale face marked with a line and two bloody tears sadly watch them fall.

_Little one, how wrong you are._

She shuddered, falling out of the red and black world of illusions. Her wounds returned. There was a sharp pain in her abdomen, where she had been stabbed through the back with kunai. It had probably punctured her lung if breathing hurt this much. Or maybe she was just tired. She closed her eyes voluntarily, clenching them together to create tracks along her dirt and blood stained face.

"Crying?"

"No… never." It hurt thrice over to speak. She was on her knees, in a similar position to years ago. When she had signed the sentence to be forever bonded to him. What chipped away at her heart, and helped crack his.

"I never could wash away the blood."

"A pity. You were white once."

She had once thought it was their promises, made official by blood, which tied them together.

She thought things would work one way or another.

But it was the vermillion imperfections that bound them.

"You're red now." He was beside her, approaching her as she hacked up some blood on the ground. He preformed the seals, prepared to activate Amaterasu.

"Yes. Our souls are stained."

Black flames engulfed a beating, incarnadine heart.

**---**

God. That exudes morbidity. And this thing is unclear and poorly written, and really dragged out. Editing really does go a long way, all. Though I do like the title.

Anyways. It's my birthday today, March 3rd! Though it's close to midnight here, so almost a day late. Review!

**((You people are pathetic. Over 100 hits and only one reviewer. Thanks AkatsukiAddict.))**


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